It is the big weekend for area high school wrestlers and the rest of the winter sports season. Wrestling is the first sport of the winter season to hold its state series and it starts Saturday with the regional level.

Pontiac will be hosting in Class 2A while Dwight and Prairie Central will hit the road.

The following is a look at the area wrestlers who should and could advance to the sectional level.

Pontiac Indians

The Tribe won 236 of 448 bouts this season and will have two wrestlers who have at least 30 wins and are state-ranked. Two others will hit the 30-win plateau Saturday if they are able to advance.

Leading the charge is Alex Friedman, the 160-pound senior who is sporting a 35-1 record and ranked third in Class 2A. He has a team-high 17 pins and is tied for team honors with 4 technical falls. He also has 120 takedowns.

Friedman reached state last season. There is one other ranked 160-pounder at the Pontiac Regional but there could be six at the Rochelle Sectional.

Stephen Richardson is 30-3 and ranked fifth at 132. He has 10 pins and 4 tech falls. There are two honorable mention wrestlers at Pontiac and up to seven ranked foes at Rochelle.

Senior Eric DeMattia is sitting at 28-8 with 13 pins. He will hit the 30-win mark if he reaches the title bout. He is among the honorable mention ranked wrestlers at 138 pounds.

Freshman Vaughn Hobart will be looking to take a huge step at 145. He, too, would hit the 30-win plateau should he reach the final. He has 12 pins but is not among the ranked. Ten of his losses have come to ranked foes in close matches.

In the grand scheme, these four Indians will likely move on. Andrew Mays (13-7) is getting back into shape after surgery earlier this season. He has a shot at 220 pounds with all his wins coming via a pin. He is one of five ranked or honorable mention wrestlers at Pontiac.

Darin Trout (17-13) at 113 and Matt Richardson (19-18) need to wrestle very well to advance, but it is not out of the question for these two to join the others.

Prairie Central Hawks

Head coach Ben Morris feels there are up to eight Hawks who are expected to advance out of the Bismarck-Henning Regional to the Olympia Sectional. Six are either ranked or honorable mention.

Evan Bahler has the most experience for Prairie Central after finishing fourth at state at 138 pounds last season. He is ranked seventh at 145 and is the only ranked competitor in the field.

Page 2 of 3 - Ben Traub is a past sectional qualifier and is looking at moving on again. He is ranked eighth at 138 in a group that has just two ranked wrestlers.

Brett Bennett is one of three ranked at 285. He is seventh and will be in a tough field with the top two ranked heavyweights in 1A standing in the way.

Cody Parks is ranked 10th at 220 pounds and is the only ranked wrestler at that weight.

Another question mark is John Kupferschmid at 182. At 15, he is the only ranked wrestler in his weight class at the regional and would normally be favored. But Kupferschmid is dealing with a shoulder injury that may hinder his chances.

Sam Schuler is an honorable mention pick at 152 and is one of two ranked at Bismarck-Henning.

Paul Garcia and Tyler Keneipp each stand a chance despite not being ranked. There are no ranked opponents for Garcia at 132 and Keneipp, at 170, has just one.

Missing out due to an injury is Andrew Schuler at 160. He is ranked ninth and would be the favorite to win the regional.

Dwight Trojans

Lenny Tryner’s club has been shorthanded all season, but there is some quality headed to the postseason. Tryner believes there are five Trojans who can get out of the Seneca Regional.

In terms of record, Brandon Allen is the best at 29-4 and owns a win over 13th-ranked Tommy Lovett of Seneca. Allen is not one of the two ranked wrestlers. The other — Matt Marcotte of Herscher — owns no wins over a ranked opponent. He has battled to get to this point after starting the season at 152 and wrestling at 170 despite being well under that weight.

“(He) has put on a few more pounds the last few weeks and is looking stronger than he has all season,” Tryner said.

In terms of ranking, Mikal Kelly is the top DTHS grappler. He sports a 26-5 mark and is ranked fourth at 152. He has tough road as one of three in the field ranked in the top five.

“I think he is getting more confidence after winning I-8,” Tryner said of Kelly.

Anthony Bauer has shown signs of brilliance this season and is on the verge of hitting the 30-win mark with his 29-11 record. There is only one ranked 195-pounder at Seneca and Tryner said Bauer is riding momentum.

Two others with shots are Chance Larsen at 132 and Jon Gallentin at 138.

Page 3 of 3 - Tryner said Larsen (16-16) has been better on his feet of late and could get third if he wrestles well.

Gallentin (22-14) has been night and day this season, Tryner said.

“If he shows up and wrestles like we have seen him a few times he could be in the third place match,” Tryner said of Gallentin. “But most of that is going to depend on what wrestler shows up.”